AFAP supports projects that have emerged from individuals and communities throughout Australia. These projects are conceived and implemented by AFAP members from across Australia who have dedicated time and resources to developing projects to improve the lives of those living in poverty and hardship.

AFAP's current Community Partners include:

Aid International Missions (AIM) http://members.optusnet.com.au/aimissions/
Bairo Pite Pathology

In early 2000 soon after the cessation of major hostilities in East Timor, a full working pathology laboratory was built at Bairo Pite Clinic. The first such civilian diagnostic laboratory to operate after the destruction of Dili. The laboratory was built by a combination of NGOs including Outreach to East Timor, AFAP, AMI France and donations from individual members of the Australian Defence Force.

Peter Hind and Graeme Houghton of Aid International Missions (AIM) returned to Timor on 6 March 2006 with about $200,000.00 worth of donated equipment and supplies. The laboratory has been completely rebuilt and rewired including the addition of two air-conditioners, twelve power-points, six ceiling spot lights and two fluorescent lights. The laboratory is now repainted and well lit. Additionally, the remaining wooden benches have been tiled.  

AIM supports the pathology laboratory at Bairo Pite Clinic which includes automated cell counting equipment and new microscopes. The laboratory is a small stat laboratory capable of the most basic clinical chemistry, haematology and serology testing including HIV and RPR, and basic blood grouping. Additional testing includes microscopic examinations for malaria, filaria and urine, and stool examinations for pathology and parasites.

Baoji XinXing Aid Street Kids www.xinxingaid.org.cn
Baoji XinXing is the first Chinese NGO established for street children in mainland China. It was founded in March 2006 by a group of national staff previously employed by Medecin sans Frontieres (MSF). Baoji Xinxing has a 24 hour open centre with accommodation for 60 children, aged from 6 to 18 years. The centre provides psychological intevention, medical aid and educational support through a multidisciplinary approach.

The centre organises schooling, vocational and apprenticeship trainings and a wide range of educational activities to facilitate street kids' reintegration in the civil society.

Bega Valley Advocates for Timor Leste www.bvaftl.org

Bega Valley Advocates have joined with Rotary International and the Timor Leste Government to restore Natarbora Agricultural College in southern Timor Leste. Bega Valley Advocates are re-establishing the farming operations and cropping programs.

Despite the political unrest in Timor Leste, Bega Valley Advocates for Timor Leste has expanded their record of on-the-ground achievements in Natarbora on the South Coast. Members of the Education Committee have distributed large amounts of education material to the primary schools, sporting equipment and uniforms and helped with teacher training.

Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, Viet Nam  www.bdcf.org

Established in early 2003, Blue Dragon aims to improve the future of poor and disabled young people by providing educational and vocational opportunities to street children. This year Blue Dragon reached 800 needy children throughout Viet Nam – 335 rural students were given the opportunity to complete their schooling and 35 child victims of trafficking were rescued and returned home.

Glencoe Foundation www.glencoefoundation.org

The Glencoe foundation is a long time partner of AFAP and was one of the first groups to participate in our Community Partnership Service.  Initially the focus was on Education initiatives, ranging from vocational training for disadvantaged groups to the provision of scholarships for talented University students to study in Australia. This year the Glencoe Foundation continued to promote access to education enabling students to reach their full potential. Activities ranged from the provision of scholarships for students to study at Australian institutions like Deakin University to the provision of support and scholarships enabling students to participate in vocational training courses in Viet Nam.

HELP Sri Lanka, http://helpsrilanka.com.au

HELP Sri Lanka Incorporated was established in January 2005. The projects are broadly grouped under disaster relief but range from building schools, houses and villages, education, literacy, upgrade of hospitals and medical equipment, water sanitation, grief counselling and foster care.

Hope for Children, Ethiopia  www.hopeforchildren.org.au
Hope for Children was established to address the gap in service provision by identifying, assisting, and empowering HIV & AIDS affected children and families to participate more fully in Ethiopian society.  They provide for children’s basic needs, psychosocial care and emergency assistance. HFC have HIV & AIDS prevention and care programs, including a home-based care program. 

International Porter Protection Group, Nepal www.ippg.net

The International Porter Protection Group (IPPG) works to improve the conditions of mountain porters employed in the tourism industry worldwide. IPPG’s aim is for every porter to have access to insurance, adequate clothing, boots, shelter and food, and medical care when ill or injured.

IPPG continued to consolidate the work on the Machermo Porter Shelter and Rescue Post. Funding has been raised for a new porter shelter at the foot of Kala Pattar at 5000m, one of the main Everest viewpoints and for a new seasonal shelter and first-aid post at Gamaukh in India. IPPG continued its work to educate both tourists and governments on the issue of porter safety mainly through its popular website and to assist with the provision of clothing and footwear for loan through porter clothing banks.

AHEAD (formerly ISHED), Sri Lanka

The Institute for Sustainable Health Education and Development (ISHED) delivers state-of-the-art eLearning and collaborates with healthcare workers and departments of health-developing nations on health and disability policy production and on capacity building using eHealth and eLearning technologies. Working closely with the Interactive Health Network (UK) and the Institute for Clinical and Academic Neuropsychiatry, ISHED uses a multitude of networks to ensure interactive communication with remote areas without reliable electricity or telecommunications infrastructure, including digital satellite radio, analog radio, and innovative real-time and asynchronous low bandwidth solutions online.

Karuna Children's Centre, Cambodia www.karunafoundation.org.au

Karuna was established in 2004 in order to provide support to vulnerable children. Their mission is to identify and support community-based projects that provide basic food, clothing, shelter and access to education for children. Karuna Children’s Centre is situated in the remote district of Varin in the Siem Reap province of Cambodia. The centre is now fully built in the traditions of the local village with the support of the local pagoda and is now home to 65 of the district’s most neglected, abandoned or orphaned children.

Life Love and Health Inc, Timor Leste www.lifelovehealth.com

Life Love and Health have been supporting health and poverty alleviation projects in Timor Leste since 2004.  They are currently supporting two projects. The Laga Water Project which will pipe water from a mountain spring to two locations and will benefit approximately 330 people. The second is a pilot Agriculture Training Project that will provide 15 youth with agriculture training at the LAHO site in Bacau.

In 2007 Life, Love and Health continued to support their Timorese Community Development Partners in developing their capacity and assisting them to implement projects on the ground. They have assisted the Water and Sanitation NGO – Hamoris Timor Oan, working with them to provide water to communities of several hundred people in Laga. These communities had been without accessible water for over 3 years and were amazed to see it arrive ‘on tap’.

They have worked with the Agriculture and Sericulture Training Center run by the NGO – LAHO, and in particular have helped to develop their silk farming and supported the Youth Agricultural Training Course. Life, Love and Health have continued to work with Alola Foundation through the screenings of the ‘Maternal Health and Breastfeeding Promotion’ film to the internally displaced persons camps and remote communities throughout Timor Leste.

Click here to read one of "Life, Love and Health" newsletters

Lotus Outreach, Cambodia www.lotusoutreachaustralia.org.au

Lotus Outreach Australia (LOA) improves the living conditions of vulnerable children and their communities through education and healthcare. The principal activity is the support of education for girls in Cambodia who are at risk of being trafficked into prostitution.

Mates Abroad, Cambodia www.matesabroad.org.au

Matesabroad supports 5 slum schools (470 students) in the poor communities of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The program targets the poorest children; those unable to afford to attend Government schools. The program offers free primary level education (grade 1–6) to boys and girls aged between 6 and 14 years of age. Sixteen classes operate five days a week for two to three hours per day. The children study mathematics, Khmer reading and writing, geography, history, science, environmental studies, hygiene and sanitation, mental health, HIV/AIDS, drug prevention and social morality.

Oneheart Education Foundation, Viet Nam

Oneheart Education Foundation provides educational opportunities to about 70 high-school students living around Ho Chi Minh City and in the Mekong Delta. Children usually enter the program in Year 6. Oneheart pays school-related expenses and its volunteers monitor the students’ progress. Three students have already graduated from the Oneheart program and are now undertaking tertiary studies.

Operation Cleft, Bangladesh

Operation Cleft funds local surgeons to undertake cleft repair operations in a number of developing countries.  This project has enabled over 1,500 people, predominately children, born with cleft deformities to have access to life changing surgery. 

Room to Read

Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children's  literature, constructing schools, providing education to girls and establishing computer labs.

While Room to Read was founded in 2000 providing support to schools in Nepal, it is now operating in eight countries throughout Asia and Africa. Room to Read believes that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and  future generations.

Sailung TriNetra, Nepal www.sailungtrinetra.org

Sailung TriNetra is a Nepali Non-Government (NGO) organisation established in October 2006 and working in the Ramechhap District in East Nepal. Sailung TriNetra strives to give rural village children access to learning tools, resources and the potential to empower themselves by providing education and training opportunities.
These facilities will provide education to up to 130 children in its first preschool phase. This will provide a much-required foundation, returning students to their village schools with an introduction in the basics of learning and socialising. A bakery has also been established in Kathmandu to provide training for the wider community that will further benefit families into the future.

Tabitha Foundation Australia, Cambodia www.tabithafoundationaustralia.com

Tabitha Foundation Australia is the Australian support group for Tabitha Cambodia, a Cambodia-based NGO that has been improving the lives of the country’s poorest citizens for over 11 years.

The main Tabitha Cambodia program is ‘Family Development through Savings’, a micro-banking project using 10-week savings cycles to guide families in financial self-reliance. Over 33,000 families are currently participating in the program (affecting 264,000 people). Typically, families remain on the program for about 7 years and over 30,000 families have now ‘graduated’ to Cambodian middle-class life. Other Tabitha programs include house building, cottage industry and a wells program.

Talalla Bay, Sri Lanka www.talallasupportgroup.com

The Talalla Bay project has recently been completed. It provided immediate food, water, shelter, sanitation and medical needs to Sri Lanka directly after the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004, and have almost completed two community centres and funded some rehabilitation work including the cleaning of wells.

Tekee Media Project/Arte Moris, Timor Leste www.tekeemedia.com

Tekee Media is an organisation devoted to the performance of serious art music which also delivers a message, particularly with regard to social justice. The works are apolitical, with a focus on human rights, and aim to have a strong general appeal and empathy with the issues raised, thus contributing to the service of peace. Tekee Media is also committed to helping the Timor Lesteese revive their indigenous music and to put it to practical contemporary use through the education system in Timor Leste.

Tibetan Support Program www.tibetsupport.org
The Tibetan Support Program (TSP) was established to assist with the education of children in the Quinghai, China in the North Eastern corner of the Tibetan plateau. Whilst in Nepal in November 2001, Dr Dave Webb, the founder of TSP met Lobsang Tsering, a Tibetan monk who spoke of his dream to build a school.

Returning to Australia after having offered his assistance, Dave established TSP in Perth to help improve the quality of life of the Tibetan nomadic people. In July 2005, the school opened for 30 children - including 18 orphan children - between the ages of 5 and 9. The second stage of construction was completed in November 2005 providing space for 30 more children. By 2007, 250 children are expected to board at the school.

2006–2007 witnessed the continued construction of the Tibetan Support Programme (TSP) Gesar Sherab School in Kharnang, Qinghai, located in the north-eastern corner of the Tibetan plateau. The completion of Phase 3 in August 2007 has enabled 300 children to attend the school as full-time boarders.

In March–April 2007, representatives of the local government education office in Trindu county, Yushu, requested local project management organisation, The Snowland Service Group (SSG), to develop plans to extend the number of children able to attend the school to 500 by 2008–2009. Discussions are currently underway between SSG and TSP to explore the feasibility of the government’s wishes. Already the school has become a prominent landmark bringing additional funding support to the region which over the last 2 years has seen the construction of roads, the installation of a solar power facility providing power to 1000 families and a health clinic with trained medical staff.

The ISIS Foundation www.isis.bm
The ISIS Foundation (ISIS) was established in early 1997 to benefit children in the developing world, specifically in Nepal and Uganda.
The ISIS Foundation focuses on health and education programmes for children and their families, developed in partnership with local communities in Nepal and Uganda.
ISIS works on a range of projects including installation and maintenance of sustainable technologies (such as solar lighting in homes, and smokeless stoves), rescue of and support for around 140 war-displaced and trafficked children, and medical training.
In Nepal, ISIS works in Kathmandu, the capital, and in Humla, a remote and highly disadvantaged district in the North West. In Uganda, ISIS’ main focus is in the Luwero region, a rural area North of the capital, and also in Kampala with a small street children’s project.

Vets Beyond Borders www.vetsbeyondborders.org
Vets Beyond Borders was established by veterninarians and is currently involved in projects in India, Sri Lanka and the Pacific, and has a consultative role in several other countries. The organisation seeks to improve the health and welfare of both animal and human populations in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region, by providing or facilitating sustainable animal welfare programmes, staffed by qualified veterinary personnel.

The organisation uses experienced Vets Beyond Borders coordinators and veterinary staff to train local administrators and clinical personnel in the field. In the North-Eastern Indian State of Sikkim, Vets Beyond Borders is working in collaboration with the Sikkimese Government and the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in a state-wide, animal welfare project.

This year Vets Beyond Borders (VBB) desexed, vaccinated and provided essential health care to thousands of dogs at its two Animal Birth Control (ABC) programs in India. At the end of June 2007, 6,393 street dogs were desexed and 13,208 vaccinated against rabies at the Sikkim anti-Rabies and Animal Health Program (SARAH). Eleven local vets successfully competed VBB’s formal training program.

In the Leh Street Dog Sterilisation Program, much of the effort was in establishing facilities and training local staff. A total of 560 street dogs were sterilised. The Brigitte Bardot Foundation funds both these programs. In Sikkim, the Sikkimese Government also provides funding and in Leh, the Marchig Trust is a co-funder.

VISTA, China www.vistaproject.org

Vajra Institute for Sustainable Training Assistance (VISTA) is an integrated vocational education, heritage conservation and enterprise development project based in Sershul, Sichuan Province, China and run by the Rigdzin Foundation in partnership with Ju Mohor Monastery. VISTA has four program areas covering Tourism Development, Technology Skills Training, Health Care and Education and Heritage Conservation. It aims to provide economic development for local people in the following areas through: Tourism Development (accommodation services, catering and hospitality training, tourist transport and tour guiding); Technology Skills Training (motor mechanics, tailoring, sanitation engineering, waste management and water supply, and information technology); Health Care and Education (public health education and basic health care); Heritage Conservation (carpentry, stonemasonry, decorative painting, thanka painting and calligraphy); and Enterprise Development (business enterprise training and micro-finance).

W1Foundation, Pakistan www.w1foundation.org

The W1 Foundation aims to improve the wellbeing and status of women and children in Pakistan through the prevention of violence and abuse and by improving women and girls' access to education, health services and income generating opportunities.  W1 works in partnership with community based organizations and promotes activities such as legal aid centres, the provision of basic education, literacy classes for adult women and the provision of basic health services.

W1 Foundation worked in Pakistan assisting survivors of the 2005 earthquake which killed 73,000, injured 100,000 and left almost 3.5 million people homeless in the harsh northern mountainous region.

Project Coordinator, Debbie Seldon, managed a child protection program for a local NGO in Balakot, conducting community needs assessments, training and supervising local staff and implementing training programs for women.

Another volunteer, Aaron Mundy, worked with the Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) in Islamabad on a series of projects.